Humane hunting requires a system for killing prey quickly. Problems exist with current hunting devices, bows and arrows and projectiles such as bullets in that, in particular, the killing area of the arrow or projectile is difficult to expand without introducing detrimental side effects.
A “broadhead”, as is known in the art, is the sharpened implement mounted on the end of the shaft of an arrow that provides the penetrating and cutting mechanism which results in the ethical and humane killing of the hunted animal. While broadheads are useful hunting tools, they would be even more useful if they could be accurately delivered to the desired area of the animal. Unfortunately, the evolution of the broadhead has provided no significant changes in design or shape other than those advantages and efficiencies derived from newer materials and better machining techniques for fixed blade broadheads. In particular, the blades of a broadhead remain rigid and immovable for “fixed bladed broadheads” for “mechanical broadheads”. “Mechanical broadheads” are mechanically complex devices which deploy cutting blades at impact with a target. However, after deploying blades at impact these blades also remain rigid and fixed in their cutting widths. When contacting hard substances such as bone and cartilage, these prior art blades essentially stop and the animal is merely wounded not killed.
Further, with the advent and availability of improved materials, the bow for delivering the arrow has also improved considerably. Compound bows are much more efficient than traditional equipment and result in the capability to launch arrows at considerably higher velocities. Unfortunately, these higher velocities introduce significant aerodynamic problems in maintaining accurate arrow flight with a broadhead attached. This unwanted resultant inaccurate arrow flight has been termed “steering effect”. Prior art attempts to minimize this steering effect have taken two directions.
Currently, one solution is to stay with the traditional two, three, four or more razor blades rigidly affixed to the ferrule or shaft. Here, attempts to minimize the steering effect on larger diameter cutting width broad heads have focused on reducing the surface area of fixed blades in two manners. First, the prior art blade's overall cutting width has been reduced to maintain as narrow an aerodynamic profile as possible. In this case the blades are swept back from the tip like wings on a fighter aircraft. Additionally, cut outs within the blade were implemented. Currently, minimum cutting widths of no less than seven-eights of an inch are permitted. Generally acceptable flight is achieved at these widths. However, the steering effect is exacerbated with increasing arrow velocities achieved with today's modern bows. Even a narrow rigid fixed blade width can cause trouble in achieving repeatable accurate arrow flights due to pressure exerted by the air, up drafts, down drafts or wind, as the arrow flies to its intended target compounded due to the need for structural integrity at impact thus mandating a larger volume of this surface area than our design in comparison to fixed, exposed cutting edged broadheads.
A second prior art “solution” to eliminate the steering effect problem has been to create a mechanical broadhead that has its blades closed during flight. Upon contacting the intended target, these “mechanical” broadheads include some form of mechanism that causes the blades to move and/or pop open on impact thus exposing lethal cutting surfaces of the blades. With no flat surfaced blades exposed during flight, the steering effect is minimized since there are no pressure differences generated on exposed blade surfaces. Several disadvantages of these so-called “mechanical” broadheads exist such as, for example only, reduced penetration of the broadhead, structural weakness of the various broadhead elements, and inoperability at the critical moment of contact with the game animal. Additionally, much more kinetic energy is typically required to achieve equal penetration compared to fixed broadhead blades.
In short, maintaining strength upon impact, having large cutting widths, achieving good penetration and maintaining accurate arrow flight are the desired characteristics of a hunting arrow tipped with a broadhead and/or any projectile used instead. Maintaining mechanical simplicity, narrow profile in flight and maximum cutting surface length while transiting the target animal and while maximizing efficient use of the magnitude of the stored kinetic energy within the broadhead tipped arrow shaft to humanely kill the targeted game animal are also desirable.
It is appropriate to note that Applicant has created a superior broadhead blade and air flow equalizer apparatus and method as set forth in his co-pending non-provisional application Ser. No. 10/745,389 incorporated herein by reference. In particular, application Ser. No. 10/745,389 is a broadhead designed for use in hunting of big game birds and is not generally applicable for use in hunting big game animals. As a result, problems still exist in the art as set forth above for pursuing big game animals. As such there is a need in the art for an apparatus and method for use with structures such as arrows, projectiles and such that increases the area of impact without decreasing the important aspects of accuracy and maximum penetration and lethal cutting upon impact and thru the target animal. That is, there is a need for a broadhead arrow, for example only, with a wide impact area that maintains target tip like accuracy at any arrow velocity, that incorporates the ability to transit bone structures such as a rib cage in a game animal in a manner that significantly minimizes the amount of kinetic energy lost to penetration, minimizes deflection, that reduces lateral drag on the arrow shaft, that provides broad, lethal cutting surface exposure at all times. Further there is a need for a broadhead that is able during hard bone structure penetration to pass it with minimal kinetic energy loss, yet which presents maximum cutting width within soft tissue vital organs once the cutting surfaces transit past the harder chest cavity surfaces such as rib cage bones both during entry and exit of the chest cavity and that is able to again exit the ribbed chest cavity should hard bone be encountered attempting to prevent continued penetration. Further, a need exists for an easy to attach and failure resistant broadhead that maximizes mechanical simplicity of design and increased structural integrity and that does not act as a barb when withdrawn.